


Dinner

by StarTrekkin08



Series: Dinner series [1]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bitterness, Curiosity, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode AU: s07e25 Endgame (Star Trek: Voyager), F/M, I Don't Even Know, Resolutions reference, When will I end the story?, what I'm doing with this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24462754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarTrekkin08/pseuds/StarTrekkin08
Summary: Chakotay forgot about dinner. Why?
Relationships: Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway, Chakotay/Seven of Nine
Series: Dinner series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1793458
Comments: 44
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed one-shot quips (chapter 1). Then...other chapters came with encouragement. ;)
> 
> "Chakotay, sometimes you're an idiot." (When I believed this was gonna be the quick one-shot.)  
> -StarTrekkin08
> 
> P.S. I'm still not over C/7 in Endgame...even though I started to get into the books.

"Let's change our weekly report dinners. We'll go over them in the mornings on the bridge," Kathryn Janeway said at entrance to her quarters. 

She was wearing black pants and shoes with an exercise top. A towel draped her shoulder and she held a water bottle in her right hand.

Surprised, he says, "Why? We've been doing it the way we have for years. Let's keep it as it is."

She shook her head. "You're too busy."

"I'm not that busy."

"Chakotay, you've given me two lunch rainchecks, a forgotten dinner, and a micromanagement of an assignment I gave you to Ensign Hager. All within the last two weeks. No reasons given. "

Chakotay flushed a bit pale.

"I... didn't realize..."

"And now you can't go play Velocity. We've be planning this for awhile so that our schedules worked and we planned our rations," she said with bitterness in her voice.

"I...can cancel-"

"No," she pursed her lips, "no. Have a good time with your hot date." 

Chakotay turned red and had therefore confirmed what Kathryn had derived from his behavior and from talking about his behavior with a few others.

"See you in the morning, Commander. Don't be late to your shift," she said and she walked out the door.


	2. It's Not What You Think

The next morning he arrived early the bridge at 06:54, six minutes before Alpha Shift was to begin.

Chakotay's mind ran over what happened last night and how Kathryn fumed in disappointment.

'It wasn't supposed to be like this. I made things worse. I should have known,' he thought. 

He kept glancing at the time and paced along the bridge.

Tom noticed in his peripherals and thought, 'What the hell?'

He finally turned around and said with eyebrows raised, "Commander, what is going on? You're burning a whole in the carpet and we haven't even started out shift yet. Ants in your pants?"

"Nothing, lieutenant," Chakotay said and he stopped his walking, "...and I do NOT have ants in my pants." 

He said it a little too loudly because he heard a snicker or two somewhere behind him.

"Anyone else?" He look back with hands raised to bring them on.

Shakes of the head were in abundance.

"Good," he said and sat down in his chair.

Tom was right, though.

He sighed and looked at the console in front of him. Two minutes. Chakotay decided to look at what he had on the agenda for today. He looked at the time. It must be...

T-minus one minute.

'Seriously,' he thought at how time was going by slowly. 

He went back to concentrating on his console. He looked at the time again. 7:05.

Shit. What the...what happened to the time? 

Kathryn's not here. She's late. That's not normal. His mind started to conjure up all kinds of ridiculous and terrifying reasons she might be late to her shift.

Should he comm her from the bridge? Was it because of him? She told him to be on time! 

His hand was tapping the console. 7:06. Chakotay glanced over at Tuvok, who was going on as if everything was normal. No signs of concern. Perplexed, he casually walked over to the Vulcan. 

Chakotay approached and asked, "Hey, Tuvok. Do you know why the captain is late to her shift?" 

Tuvok straightened up and raised that Vulvan eyebrow. "What do you mean, commander? She is not late."

Chakotay was confused and he could see that.

Tuvok clarified, "The captain was early this morning. She is in her Ready Room."

Dumbass was a word that could have easily fit in at the end of that sentence by the look Tuvok gave him.

"Ah, thank you," he said and turned around to head to the destination. However, the door open so he pressed the panel beside it.

"Come," the voice said behind the door.

He entered ready to brace whatever was to come.

"Commander," she said.

"I thought you were running late to your shift and you were already here," he said.

'I have always been here,' she thought to herself.

"Yes, I decided to get a head start today," Captain Janeway replied.

"Well," he decided to tread carefully, "maybe it's a good time to go over reports-"

"Not now," she cut him of. The briskness of her voice cut the air in the room.

He took a breath.

"Excuse ME," Chakotay stated.

Janeway was a bit taken aback at his words.

"...but it does need to be now,"

He stepped closer and pressed a pad on her desk.

"I have three department heads waiting for me to report back to them today."

He straightened himself up with his hands behind his back. If she was going to play this game he had to bend the game by enforcing some rules.

Chakotay saw her face change from resilience to relent.

She nodded.

"Okay," Captain Janeway said.

Chakotay headed towards the upper level and sat down at the couch. Apparently, she was thrown off balance because she was still at her desk.

He sat down and watched her stand and walk over to him with her coffee in her hand. 

She sat down about three feet away and as if she was afraid she would spill a drop.

Chakotay started as the ball was in his court. He went over the reports and they went over them one by-one.

Kathryn was very...captain-like in her demeanor the entire time.

Once they were done, he spoke first.

"I'm sorry about being distracted lately. It..."

She was about to say something but he raised a hand to silence her.

"I shouldn't have given Ensign Hager a responsibility that was supposed to be mine. And as for skipping our times together...I have a good reason for it."

"You don't need you to explain. I know you two are in a relationship."

"You make a great captain but you make a poor detective, Kathryn."

She looked at him curiously, furrowed brow and all.

"Seven's... been helping me with something...a project of mine. Nothing more."

Kathryn bit her lip and looked down in her lap in silence.

"It's completed. I want you to see it," he said and scooted closer to her.

She looked up at him.

"Today. After our shift.19:00. Holodeck 2. Be there?" Chakotay asked. She processed his words.

"I'll be there," Kathryn said.

He smiled. "Good, good, all right. Well, then," he pat her leg and sat up, "I'll get back to our bridge and leave you to it. Can't shirk off our responsibilities, huh?" 

With that, he walked to the bridge with a spring in his step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, Trekflower! Little stuck right now but I definitely will add. ;)


	3. Can of Worms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's more to come, I promise!

So maybe she jumped to the quick? Kathryn Janeway was confused.

So what was this project? Why didn't he tell her about it? It took at least several weeks to complete. Even with some Borg efficiency? She would've helped, he knows that.  
By solving one question Chakotay had opened a can of worms.

On the bridge Chakotay gave no hints to the project. He carried out his shift with casual snuck smiles at her.

'What was he up to?' She thought.

It was killing her not to know.

"Captain?" Harry called her from his station.

She looked in his direction.

"Can you take a look at this?" Harry said.

She would just have to wait.

...

17:00. Finally, it was the end of their shift. She and Chakotay entered the turbolift together.

Kathryn didn't say anything but she was still guessing.

'Is it an actual holodeck program? Something else?' Her mind raced.

"You're still on for 19:00, right?" He said.

"Yes," she elongated with suspicion.

He gave a a solid nod.

"What-" she started.

Chakotay cut her off with a, "No."

She gave a furrowed look.

"No, I'm not telling you what it is. You'll have to see at 19:00, Kathryn."

'Damn!' She thought. He knew her to well.

Chakotay tried to hide a smile after observing her pout.

_You can't stand it, can you? You're like a little kid wheedling._

Kathryn asked, "Do I need to change or anything?"

Chakotay said, "If you want to."

The edge of her mouth tugged to the side when she realized he wasn't able to get much out of that.

'So, room temperature, then, I guess?' she thought.

As the turbolift opened, she stepped out by herself.

""You're not getting out?" She asked.

Chakotay answered, "I have something to take care of. I'll see you at Holodeck 2." He gave a mischievous look and the turbolift doors closed.


	4. The Gift

Kathryn met Chakotay at Holodeck 2 a few minutes early at 18:55. She saw that he had changed out of his uniform as well.

"Shall we?" He held out an arm to her and she took it. They walked inside and stopped. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and then she saw it.

She stood in awe.

Before her was a white, shiplapped, farmhouse in the night. A soft yellow light poured from the windows onto a covered porch and the bushes and trees surrounding it. Sheer peach-colored curtains tried to escape from a few open windows.

She let her grip loosen from his arm and she stepped forward a few steps.

"This...this is was what I was working on. I thought, well, hell, if Tom can make a holo program from scratch then I sure as hell can," Chakotay said behind her.

Kathryn looked at the wide, brown swing that hung from the big oak tree in the frontyard. The couch on the porch with the wicker table beside it. The wheatfield swaying in the breeze behind the house.

He continued, "But...I was a little over my head. Seven caught me looking up holodeck programming instead of working while in astrophysics. She offered to help. I took over some of her shifts so she could have more social lessons with the Doctor. In exchange, she helped me with basic holo engineering and kept from Tom that I was creating a program without him. Also, from B'Elanna because she would never let it down. Seven helped to integrate images into the program from astrophysics of the night sky....It changes with the current seasons, which are also programmed, in Indiana. "

Kathryn angled her head looked at the starry-filled sky and bright full moon above them. Her throat felt tight as she swallowed.

"That is why I had to pass the assignment to Hager and skipped on some lunches...I was juggling different shifts. I missed dinner because I fell asleep. It was as simple as that. I was exhausted. I fell asleep in my armchair after work. Yesterday, I wanted to play Velocity, I really did. My scheduling skills slipped with the duty roster and it took longer to fix that I thought."

Chakotay took a deep breath and said, "This... is all for you...it's yours, Kathryn. You never really had a space that was your own. Not a spot to just relax. The captain's dining area became the mess hall and all of the holo programs you've accessed were either pre-fabricated or designed for the whole crew. Outside of that, your stuck to your quarters, the Ready Room, or on the couch in the mess hall staring out at the stars at 02:00."

"It's programmed for both day and night settings. It was supposed to be a present for later...but I couldn't sacrifice waiting at the expense of our relationship."

Then Chakotay said, "Do you like it?"

She didn't say a word. 

He grew concerned and said, "Kathryn?"

Chakotay walked towards her and rounded her shoulder to look at her. When he did, he saw tears streaming down her face in full force, gleaming in the pale moonlight.

"Kathryn," he said softly as he touched her shoulder.

Her face strained and she started to sniffle. Her hand covered her mouth as she began to sob.

Chakotay pulled her into an embrace and she clutched onto him tightly. She shook in his arms with her forehead pressed into his chest. His head bent down and rested his mouth and nose into her hair. Time slowed down and he didn't know how long they had been standing still. 

Then, Chakotay heard muffling in his tunic. 

"What was that? I couldn't hear you,' he said gently. 

She propped her chin up and with her head still angled in his chest she muttered, "This... is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me. I absolutely love it."

Kathryn sniffed and cried, "and I thought...I was so angry..."

Chakotay said, "I know that now and I'm so sorry, Kathryn. I didn't mean for things to get so out of hand."

She nodded her head in understanding and looked up at him. 

As he wiped the tears from her face he said, "I know it's been a very tough year for you. I just wanted to make it a bit brighter."

Kathryn's eyes fluttered and smiled as she said, "Thank you, Chakotay." 

He moved his hand down to her chin and brought her lips to his. They held the kiss for long time.

When they finally released, he said, "No, thank you, Kathryn," before they continued to kiss into the starry, holo-filled night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I legit cried while writing this chapter. 😭🥰
> 
> Thanks to those who asked for more. 😘

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own rights to Star Trek: Voyager. I just love these characters. 
> 
> Written on 5/13/20.


End file.
